Obadiah Forename

33,578th
Most Common
name in the World

Approximately 23,443 people bear this name

Most prevalent in:
Nigeria
Highest density in:
Israel

Obadiah Forename Definition:

A male name. Hebrew ‘worshipper or servant of Jah', the name of one of the Hebrew prophets. It was a common christian name in the 17th C, and continued in use, particularly in America, until the 19th C.

Obadiah Forename Distribution

PlaceGenderIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Nigeria
100%
10,2611:17,3051,869
Kenya
100%
6,5161:7,1071,009
Israel
100%
3,0421:2,762532
Uganda
99%
 
6871:59,6173,314
United States
100%
6031:601,22214,873
Tanzania
100%
5041:104,7395,718
Liberia
99%
 
4361:10,119924
Zimbabwe
100%
4071:37,8963,549
Jamaica-3561:8,0991,010
Ghana
100%
2811:96,0364,158
Cameroon
100%
821:263,54310,311
Botswana
100%
421:52,0114,968
South Africa
100%
391:1,398,27347,393
England
100%
321:1,737,59123,425
Zambia-211:754,99014,121
DR Congo
100%
211:3,515,60073,131
India
100%
201:60,743,899978,266
Solomon Islands
100%
141:41,4972,683
Philippines
92%
 
111:9,637,225138,004
Trinidad and Tobago
100%
111:123,7657,962
Canada-91:3,681,48643,248
Scotland
100%
51:1,070,07310,235
Papua New Guinea
100%
51:1,630,463100,826
Saint Kitts and Nevis-41:13,7151,549
Iceland-31:122,0064,203
Saint Lucia
67%
 
31:59,2724,116
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
100%
21:55,7904,636
Lesotho
50%
 
21:1,019,99836,117
Australia-21:6,828,81137,569
China-21:683,027,89194,999
Singapore-11:6,287,05439,645
Argentina-11:42,773,24343,333
Armenia-11:2,918,75314,910
Bahamas-11:399,3704,606
Belgium-11:11,490,04143,727
Belize-11:354,3097,663
Swaziland-11:1,300,1773,374
South Korea-11:5,544,42137,250
Brazil-11:214,236,154864,335
Cayman Islands-11:61,2992,487
Malaysia
100%
11:30,449,940373,101
Denmark-11:5,649,49828,429
Saint Martin-11:35,746277
Germany-11:96,677,87695,912
Guyana-11:763,26224,238
Rwanda-11:11,371,4334,615
Russia-11:144,233,704184,271
Hong Kong-11:7,752,72520,144
Afghanistan
100%
11:32,623,51666,536
Norway-11:5,132,32937,513

Obadiah (22,266) may also be a surname.

Obadiah Forename Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

A male name. Hebrew ‘worshipper or servant of Jah', the name of one of the Hebrew prophets. It was a common christian name in the 17th C, and continued in use, particularly in America, until the 19th C.

The Oxford Dictionary of Christian Names (1947) by E. G. Withycombe

This Hebrew -derived m. font-name (lit., ‘servant of the Lord’) is now very rare except in the U. S. A. Obadiah was a prophet at the Court of Ahab: the Book of Obadiah foretells the destruction of Edom (the low-lying region south of the Dead Sea).

Name This Child (1959) by Eric Partridge

The Scripture name, in Hebrew עבדיח, Obhadhyah, from ébheadh-Yah, servant or worshipper of Jehovah. The nicknames are Nobs and Nobbs.

Prænomina (1882) by Richard Stephen Charnock

Ob-a-dy'-ah, servant of the Lord. 1. A valiant man of David s army who came to join him in the wilderness. 1 Chron. xii. 9. 2. One whom king Jehoshaphat sent as an itinerant teacher. 2 Chron. xvii. 7. 3. One who signed the covenant. Neh. x. 5. 4. The prophet. He is thought by some to be the person mentioned 1 Kings xviii. 3, &c., the governor of Ahab s house, who concealed and fed the prophets whom Jezebel would have destroyed. And others say he was that Obadiah whom Josiah made overseer of the works of the temple. 2 Chron. xxxiv. 12. His prophecy is contained in one chapter.

The Proper Names of The Bible (1855) by John Farrar

Meaning: serving Jehovah.

A Dictionary of the Proper Names of the Old and New Testament (1909) by James Beaumont Jackson

A Hebrew name, meaning: Serving the Lord: worshiper of Jehovah.

Dictionary of Given Names with Origins and Meanings (1934) by Flora Haines Loughead

Obadiah Forename Popularity

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Footnotes

  • First names are taken from the first part of an person's personal name. That is, not their inherited name(s), i.e. their surname(s). The first name includes particles, but not middle names
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Obadiah